Read a full match report of the Premier League game between West Ham United v
Manchester United at Upton Park on Saturday April 2, kick-off 12.45 GMT.

This was Wayne Rooney at his best. With the final whistle gone and Manchester United having staged another remarkable comeback, Rooney kissed the ball and tucked it under his arm. He was taking it home.

This has been a frustrating season for the England striker but in scoring a hat-trick in uninhibited style, dragging his team back from two goals down, there was catharsis, even if it was expressed in more industrial language than the broadcasters were comfortable with.

At half-time this was going seriously wrong for United. Ferguson’s selection was excessively conservative. Paul Scholes was suspended and Edwin van der Sar rested after picking up a slight groin injury while Nani was left on the bench, with Wednesday’s Champions League quarter-final with Chelsea in mind. With Javier Hernandez and Dimitar Berbatov also on the bench, Rooney started as a lone striker with Park ji-sung in behind him and Darron Gibson and Michael Carrick played in holding midfield.

United had a dangerous outlet on the right, where Antonio Valencia was giving Wayne Bridge a hard time but in the centre West Ham had the edge, with the trio of Scott Parker, Mark Noble and Thomas Hitzlsperger closing aggressively and keeping the ball calmly.

They took the lead early, with the clearest of Lee Mason’s three penalty decisions. Manuel da Costa headed clear a Valencia cross and Hitzlsperger brought the ball under control and then hit a huge ball down the field in behind the United defence. Carlton Cole was on to it but let it bounce and seemed to have let the chance go when, in trying to pop the ball off Patrice Evra, the United defender clearly handled.

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Noble sent Tomasz Kuszczak the wrong way from the spot, scoring low to the goalkeeper’s right.

Having been caught out by a straightforward long ball, United’s defence suddenly appeared panicky. While you could understand the nerves of the inexperienced Fabio and Chris Smalling, the mistakes of Nemanja Vidic and Evra will be of more concern to Ferguson.

With 25 minutes played Demba Ba flicked the ball out wide to Cole who got the ball out in front of him and attacked Vidic, cutting in from the left. His quick step-over almost forced Cole into a stumble but it clearly surprised Vidic who stuck out a leg and tripped him. Cole’s momentum made it look like Mason had made the right decision in awarding a penalty but only after several slow motion replays did it become clear that the foul had begun just outside the area. Vidic pointed at the stud marks his challenge had left in the turf in vain.

This time Noble smashed the ball into the top corner, unfazed by Kuszczak coming off his line. West Ham had not scored in more than eight and half hours of league play against United, losing their last five straight games. Suddenly they were 2-0 up and had them rattled.

Gibson foolishly kicked out at Noble after running into him off the ball. It was not the last time Mason would be lenient to United. With Vidic looking unusually ruffled by the pace and power of Ba and Cole, West Ham sought to hit United with early, direct balls.

When Rob Green, who had saved well from Park and Smalling, sent a deep kick up the field, Vidic got himself into bother, pulling Ba’s shirt, before bringing him down. That the ball appeared to be running through to Kuszczak saved Vidic and was the only possible reason Mason could have had for showing yellow instead of red. “I don’t want to speak about referees,” said Avram Grant.

Ferguson, still serving his touchline ban, decided to change things at the break, sending on Hernandez for Evra, a bold tactical switch that meant Ryan Giggs playing at left-back. Yet instead of putting a nervous defence under further pressure - Vidic was sailing close to the wind with a wild foul on Ba - West Ham began to slip deeper and deeper. With grim inevitability, United pushed further and further up the pitch.

With 65 minutes played Green’s goal was finally breached. Noble, clearly tiring, fouled Carrick unnecessarily on the edge of the box. Rooney liked the look of the angle and whipped a free-kick over the wall and into the net.

It was West Ham’s turn to get twitchy, Matthew Upson clearly worried by Hernandez’s pace. The Mexican’s runs pushed the back four towards their own goal, making space for Rooney to do his work. Berbatov was on by now and his elegant pirouette away from the erratic Da Costa allowed him to test Green at the near post.

The West Ham goalkeeper had little chance with the equaliser, though. Valencia cut back in on to his left foot and passed to Rooney just inside the box. The England striker’s first touch was superb, teeing himself up to slot the ball across Green.

With West Ham now defending chaotically, Mason awarded his third penalty in front of the Sir Trevor Brooking stand. Frederic Piquionne, who had replaced Cole, was far too easily beaten by Fabio on the West Ham left. Upson then bizarrely slid in too early and, having regained his feet, Fabio’s attempted pull-back struck his arm. It was hard to see how the handball constituted a “deliberate act” on Upson’s part but Mason awarded the penalty. “I haven’t seen it yet but the players were very disappointed with it,” Grant said.

Rooney said he had been worried taking the kick because he had spent the whole previous week practising against Green on England duty but he converted confidently and then sprinted off towards the away fans, his pithy victory speech caught on camera. It might not have been the most cerebral way to celebrate but the significance of the goal was clear.

With West Ham broken a fourth was not long coming. Da Costa gave the ball away and Rooney attacked the right channel, worked the ball to Berbatov, who found Giggs, whose cross-shot went through the legs of Lars Jacobsen and Upson before being tucked away by Hernandez at the far post.